Welcome to the website of the Aromatherapy Council. We have been through several metamorphoses over the last 6 years, and have even established ourselves as the regulatory body for aromatherapy, but due to changes in the needs of regulation we have now reverted back to being the Lead or Governing Body for the UK aromatherapy profession and not the payday loan industry.

Our role is the voice of aromatherapy.

In 2007, the aromatherapy profession in the UK agreed that a federal structure of regulation was the best way forward for both safeguarding public interest AND for therapists who in the main practice more than one therapy. We have therefore been involved in discussions to achieve this goal.

Whenever you see an Aromatherapist you need to feel confident that the person treating you meets professional standards. You also need to know that someone will take action if things go wrong. That is where regulation is important.

One federal regulatory body has already been established. It is called the General Regulatory Council for Complementary Therapists (GRCCT) and its website is www.grcct.org. Another federal body will be launched in April 2008 and we will post the link here once that is established. We believe it is important to have a register of Complementary Therapists that includes Aromatherapists who meet the agreed national standards for their training, professional skills, behaviour and health. We expect aromatherapists to have your health and wellbeing at heart of all they do for you.

Regulation and registration of Complementary Therapists in the UK is voluntary self-regulation. This means that an aromatherapist can still practice and not have to be Registered with one of the federal bodies as it is their personal choice. To ensure that these aromatherapists are not disadvantaged in any way, we have set up a way of checking qualifications on our education page. An aromatherapist who holds a recognised qualification and is a full member of one of the associations within the Aromatherapy Council is permitted to state that they are AC Recognised.

If you would like to find out about standards of training and training providers of recognised aromatherapy courses, please click on our “Education & Training” page.

If you need further information, please click on our “contact us” page.